The string of recent bankruptcies and closures of various retail chains are further evidence of a major shift in consumer shopping habits, and also a warning to those retailers that remain: consumers are voting with their feet and, with access to a global market, are perhaps more empowered than ever before.

Freed from the constraints of geography, consumers willing to invest the time can shop for the best range of products, the best prices and the best service. Retailers willing and able to adapt to this reality can take advantage of it to gain a market advantage, while those unwilling or unable risk exiting the market.

It is within this reality, therefore, that one must consider the actions of Canadian retailers and their bizarre campaign to harm consumers through government intervention in the credit card market.

For a decade now, some Canadian retailers have been trying to convince the federal government to regulate the fees that merchants pay to accept credit cards. To their credit, former Conservative finance ministers Jim Flaherty and Joe Oliver rejected those demands. However, following the 2015 election, these retailers immediately pounced on the new Liberal government and began lobbying anew, and they convinced one MP to introduce a bill to regulate in this area.

The Consumers Association of Canada (CAC) has been stridently opposed to these attempts to regulate from day one for a simple reason: consumers will be harmed.

There is no other conclusion that can be made. Banks fund their credit card programs through the fees charged to merchants for card acceptance, as well as interest rates and fees charged to consumers. If the government intervenes to reduce the fees charged to merchants, the fees charged to consumers will increase. Alternatively, consumers may see their credit card benefits and rewards reduced or cut. Some consumers may even lose access to credit.

This is not a hypothetical scenario. It is exactly what happened to consumers in Australia when its government intervened in the market to reduce the fees retailers pay to accept credit cards. Consumers ended up paying more in things, such as annual fees while receiving less in terms of credit card benefits and rewards.

Meanwhile, a new study by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute has confirmed that much the same will happen here if the government intervenes in the market, which is called for in a bill (C-236) that is awaiting debate in the House of Commons.

No doubt recognizing the risks to their business if they were the public face of this campaign themselves, retailers are largely hiding behind the relative anonymity of various trade associations to lobby on their behalf. Then, best of all for those retailers, if successful in convincing the government to act, it is politicians who wear the blame when the regulation harms consumers.

This needs to change. Since consumers will be the victim of any regulatory intervention, they need to know which individual retailers are behind this lobbying campaign. Consumers can then decide if they want to take their business elsewhere.

Our politicians should also know whose interests they are putting ahead of Canadian consumers if they choose to support this action. Those politicians should also know that when we have polled Canadian consumers on this issue, they are strongly opposed to government intervention.

Finally, polling conducted by the CAC almost four years ago perhaps foreshadowed the current state of affairs for the retail landscape. Fully 88% of Canadian consumers agreed with the statement that retailers concerned about their profits should focus on delivering better customer service.

Better customer service does not entail anonymous lobbying to get government to intervene in the credit card market to harm consumers. If retailers truly believe in their campaign, they should identify themselves so consumers can decide where they want to spend.

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